


Operatic Skeleton

by Why_so_drama



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Angst, Blood and Gore, M/M, Multi, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-12-03
Packaged: 2021-01-15 11:16:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21252509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Why_so_drama/pseuds/Why_so_drama
Summary: Jamie watches as both corpses crumple, waits to see if they keep moving and then looks up to make sure that the others are still safely in the distance. He tries not to think about the one wearing pink medical scrubs, or that the other one barely looked like an adult. Their lives ended long before Jamie found them shambling here, and he refuses to feel guilty about finally putting them to rest properly.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Title from _Nearly Witches_ By The Paul Revere Jumpsuit Apparatus.
> 
> This fic contains all warning that could be associated with a zombie apocalypse. There is no character death, but there is violence, gore, fear, etc. Please be aware of this when reading.
> 
> HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

Jamie breaks the lock on the door to the bar and slowly eases it open. He has to stay quiet because they’ll hear him if he’s not; they might hear him anyway, because it’s not like anyone knows how far sound travels to them. They might be hundreds of metres away and still know that he’s here. Going out alone isn’t safe, but there aren’t enough of them that are able to go on runs right now, and Jamie is one of the strongest in their safe house. There’s him, Jordie, and a few locals that they’d found after the plague swept the earth and caused the dead to walk again and become ravenous for flesh. Everyone else has taken their turn already, so now it’s up to Jamie to try and find something salvageable to bring back home.

He’s not sure exactly where he is but it’s one of the small towns near Frisco. It seems to have been all but abandoned in the aftermath. It’s only been a few months, and already the area surrounding the places that Jamie once knew have become unrecognizable to him. Jamie remembers all the old zombie movies he’d watched as a kid, how they all seemed to be washed with a sepia tone, depicting a setting that was dead and rotted, along with the monster being featured. He’d never believed that the world would look that way, just a tan monotone instead of the bright foliage that he’s used to, but then again, he’d never pictured himself being in Texas when the apocalypse hit. Now it strikes him how accurate those movies really were.

He’d scoffed at the idea that it could actually happen, but now he’s living it, and he wishes he’d remembered more about how the characters survived. All he does recall is that he needs to target the head, and if there’s an omega around, they’d better be suppressed to the gills, or be bonded to disguise their scent, because an unbonded omega in heat will reign hell down on all of them. Thankfully, the only omegas they have with them are bonded, but that doesn’t mean it will stay that way. Jamie is willing to take in anyone they can because leaving someone out here in the open is a death sentence. If that person is an omega, well, Jamie’s been looking for suppressants since he’d learned how to stay safe out here.

When the news hit, he’d been with Jordie. The radio started warning everyone to stock up and stay away from large crowds, and the two of them had decided that the safest place they could think of was the Stars practice facility in Frisco. There had only been a few guys in town— Rads, Klinger, Spezz, Dobby, Miro and Bish— because training camp was still a week away, but they’d been expecting Tyler. Jamie had agreed to pick him up at the airport right up until the point he’d read that all the planes were grounded and no one was moving anymore. Tyler’s plane probably hadn’t even left, but Jamie had risked everything and gone to the airport anyway. He’d circled around for as long as he could, but it was clear that Tyler wasn’t coming. He’d tried so hard to find him but ended up having to escape, to get back to Jordie before he was able to find out if Tyler was even in Dallas at all.

It’s three months later now, and they’re starting to run low on supplies. 

Jamie creeps into the bar as quietly as he possibly can, winces when the door creaks audibly. The fact that the door was locked bodes well for the place being undisturbed; he doubts any previous looters would have taken the time to lock up after grabbing everything, but the noise poses a problem. If there are any zombies around, they’re sure to have heard it. In fact, he blinks into the darkness of the building he sees three rotting heads snap up toward him because of the noise. Of course, they let out a low, whistling moan as they notice him. That’s how they signal the presence of prey to others nearby. Jamie’s going to have to take care of these ones before they attract more.

The zombies shamble toward him, grunting as their bones pop and crackle from the movement. The noises that they make as they move are almost akin to what a human would but they’re just off enough to fall into the realm of the uncanny. Although the noises are coming from something that was formerly human, the sound itself isn’t human at all. There’s no humanity left within these rotting corpses moving his way, but he still needs to remind himself of that fact as he raises his sharpened metal rod. He’d found it on a construction site, used the skate sharpener back at the arena to make it more useful, and rues the day that it might get lost. So far, this simple weapon has done him very well.

The monsters look old, rotted beyond anything he’s been seeing on the streets, appearing as though they’re about to fall over. It’s been a few months now, so these might be some of the first people that were hit. They’re too rotted to be a threat, too slow to get close before Jamie has his stick ready. He waits for them to get close enough, and then methodically slides the sharp blade through each of their skulls, revelling in the satisfying crunch of the dried out bone as he damages the brain significantly enough for the zombie to fall to the floor. 

By the time he’s taken the first one out, the second is close enough to do the same. It doesn’t matter that these ones are laughably pathetic, they’ll still bite him, infect him with whatever this disease is and make him into one of them if they get too close, that is, if they don’t devour him instead. He’s seen someone ripped apart in front of him, flesh and blood and brains exploding from a body surrounded, more times than he can count. It’s not something he wants for himself, that’s for sure, so he’s not about to let these ones take him down.

At first, Jamie was freaked out by the moving corpses, but now, he’s just disgusted. He hates seeing the way their skin just hangs off their bodies, dripping over their bones like old candle wax, dry and brittle. He hates to see the way their eyes are clouded over, unseeing. Watching them move is strange too; the unnatural ways their bodies move is the first indicator that they’re no longer alive. The way their joints pop, the way some of them drag their bodies behind them, helpless to their urge to consume makes Jamie want to cringe and shiver, and never leave the safety of the arena again, but he can’t cower and hide. He’s one of the only people able to go out and find anything useful. He’d never make someone else go in his stead just because he’s afraid.

He pushes his feelings about his situation aside and stabs his stick into the brain of the last one. Just like in the movies, any type of brain trauma seems to be the only thing that works to kill them properly. Jamie’s glad that he’d at least remembered that much. He steps over them carefully when he’s sure that they’re not going to surge back up toward him and takes a look around. 

There must be a back door or something, because zombies can;t open locked doors, but that means that someone has already been there. Jamie had been hoping to find this place untouched. Even though it’s a bar, there could have been a lot of useful things here. Now, his desire of an untouched supply is dashed, and now he hopes that whoever had been here first left something behind for him. He hates going back to the arena empty handed, especially when their supplies are near to running out.

He steps carefully around the bar, not wanting to make any further noise. He’d seen some of the zombies milling about outside, and there’s no reason to draw them closer. Jamie steps behind the countertop to see what the shelves have to offer. There are a few smashed bottles on the floor; someone was here before him and they’d definitely grabbed whatever they could and destroyed the rest of it so that no one else could grab it. Nothing is worth salvaging, at least not in the common areas. 

He’s noticed in past runs that people tend to forget that there are backrooms and storage areas, has been guilty of avoiding those places himself, due to some sense of propriety from civilization past, so hopefully he’ll find something back there. The problem is that he’s still close enough to the city that there just might not be anything left. That’s been a common denominator lately, at least in the less infested areas of Frisco. He’s about to head into the area marked ‘Employees Only’ when he hears a noise.

He expects to find more zombies when he turns around, even though he hasn’t heard their tell tale whitling moans, or their slow, methodical shuffle. He prepares himself, stick at the ready, gripped tightly in his gloved hand. It’s hard to see through his visor, but he won’t take it off. It’s saved him from being exposed to the blood from his victims more than once now. His hockey equipment has come in handy in the days, weeks, and months since the world effectively ended. It’s protected him time and time again from getting bitten and infected by these monsters. He’s wearing most of it now, pads strapped to his shoulders, shin guards fastened around his legs, chest protector sitting close to his skin. He’d sharpened the pointy end of his stick to penetrate skulls more easily. Without understanding how the infection is spread aside from bites and scratches, Jamie can’t justify scrapping protective equipment just because it clouds his vision a little. He needs to be ready for whatever might be coming for him. 

There’s nothing there, no animated corpses, no shuffling monsters, just nothing. Jamie frowns because he knows he’d heard something. Any noise tends to attract them, and by virtue of being an alpha now that they’ve run out of scent suppressants, his aroma alone tends to result in zombies following him wherever he goes. He needs to be extra careful because he’s at a disadvantage when it comes to attracting them, and he likes to work alone. He listens again,for anything, even just a creak, but he still can’t hear any shuffling, can’t hear any of their inhuman groans, and can’t hear the snapping of their jaws as they look for something to feast on. What he does hear is the same noise again and it’s coming from just beyond the bar, likely in the alcove in the corner. 

It must be some sort of animal. 

Slowly, he eases himself from behind the counter, looking around as he does so, keeping his eyes peeled for anything unusual. It wouldn’t be the first time that he was fooled and found a nest of rotted zombies hidden somewhere. It wouldn’t be the first time that he’d thought one of them was dead only to find he’d just missed the brain stem. With that in mind, he goes over to the pile of corpses and stabs each of them in the head once more but it becomes clear that the noise isn’t coming from any of them. He doesn’t regret the action because now he’s sure that the sound is coming from elsewhere; he hasn’t survived this long without knowing how to keep himself safe. 

Quietly, Jamie makes his way through the bar. He’d rather catch them by surprise than have a mess of monsters come down on him without warning. He looks at every single booth and table, peers underneath furniture and squints in the darkness. Light attracts the zombies as well and even though some places still thankfully have power, Jamie isn’t about to expose himself like that. Being unable to mask his scent is bad enough, and he knows that if he doesn’t hurry, he’ll have company to take care of before he can leave.

He’s about three quarters of the way through his search when he finds the source of the noise. Jamie tries not to pay attention to the corpses that he lays waste to. He doesn’t like to look at what they’re wearing, or notice any definable features. One of the creatures he’d destroyed was a cop, though, and that’s hard to miss. On the cop’s belt is a walkie-talkie and the orange light that indicates a low battery keeps flashing on and off in time with little clicking noises, interspersed by periods of static. If the light is clicking on and off, that means there’s someone on the other side doing the clicking.

Quickly, Jamie snatches the walkie-talkie and turns it off. Even this little bit of noise could attract visitors, and Jamie doesn’t have time for that. He stuffs the device into his bag and then prepares himself to get back to his truck. He can’t investigate who might be trying to send a message yet; he has to make sure that he’s safe enough to get the message, and then offer whatever help he can to whoever is on the other line. Jamie readies himself, and then steps out into the open, stick at the ready. 

There’s a clear path to the truck but there are zombies approaching. From what he can tell, there are two of them, but there’s always the potential for more. Jamie has been around them long enough to know that even though he can only see two of them, there are likely more nearby, turned their way because of the noise or because of Jamie’s scent. They’re like cockroaches that way: if one is visible, there are absolutely more of them hidden. He needs to be aware of how many he’s dealing with before he can come up with a play. 

He doesn’t see any others, and he can only hear the two of them approaching, so he deems it safe enough to approach his vehicle. Sticking to the side of the truck, Jamie uses the shelter of the tail of it as cover. He grips his stick, readying himself for the fight and then steps out. He can see a few other zombies in the distance, but they’re too far away to concern him, and he hasn’t caught their attention yet; they’re still just milling about with their sick, undead shuffle. 

Two of them aren’t really much of a threat, even when they seem significantly fresher than the ones inside. Jamie crashes the sharpened end of the stick into the first one’s head and kicks it aside before turning swiftly and bashing the second with the blade of his stick with a sickening _thwap_. The blood spurts out from the wound, splashing across his face shield and hitting his cheek. He’s going to have to make sure to keep his mouth closed until he’s safe, otherwise, who knows what will happen to him. Even if the disease isn’t contracted through sanguine means, he still doesn’t want any of that thick black sludge in his mouth.

Jamie watches as both corpses crumple, waits to see if they keep moving and then looks up to make sure that the others are still safely in the distance. He tries not to think about the one wearing pink medical scrubs, or that the other one barely looked like an adult. Their lives ended long before Jamie found them shambling here, and he refuses to feel guilty about finally putting them to rest properly. He can’t risk his own health and safety because he feels bad for them. He just can’t.

After wiping the blood from face and visor with a rag he carries with him, he bends to clean his stick on some nearby grass and then gets into the truck. He has a few others, ready and waiting inside of the cab in case he needs them, so he piles this one on top of them. Then he puts the truck into gear so that he can get out of this area. He doesn’t want to risk getting swarmed just to help someone else out. 

He finds a deserted area just off one of the lesser used roads and stops the truck. He wishes he could let it idle, but the noise would attract those _things_ so he has to turn it off. He digs into his back pack to find the radio, holds it in his hand for a moment before clicking it back on. He holds it to close to his face and says, “hello?”

The response is immediate. The line crackles, comes to life, and Jamie hears, “oh thank fuck, I was worried no one would find me. Listen bud, I’m trapped in a cop car, surrounded by about ten or so, which, I could probably handle if they weren’t swarming me but—”

That voice. Jamie recognizes that voice, would recognize it anywhere. He’s heard it every single day for years now, on the ice, in his living room, in his bed. He’d thought— when the planes had been grounded, and Jamie hadn’t been able to find him outside of the airport, he’d thought— maybe he’s just imagining it, but he can’t be. This has to be him, as impossible as it might seem. If it is, Jamie needs to go find him, needs to bring him back to safety. 

He interrupts the babbling coming from the other line by pressing the talk button, takes a breath and exhales slowly. His hands are shaking and his fingers slide off the button. He can’t believe it, can’t even comprehend what’s happening. He takes in another breath, calms himself down and presses the button, this time with more conviction.

“Tyler?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tyler is trapped, but if he's not imagining things, he might have just convinced Jamie to come rescue him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please heed the warnings in the tags: this chapter also contains violence, gore, and characters truly believing they will die, or that their friends have already died. This is a dark fic. 
> 
> Let me know if there are any tags that should be added, I am happy to do so!

“_Tyler_?” comes from the other end of the walkie talkie and Tyler feels himself freeze. There’s no way, no way in hell that it could be who he thinks it is. What are the chances that Jamie both survived and that he’s the one to find this communicator’s match. He just— he’s been looking for Jamie since the plane landed and he’d found out about this fuckery, and here Jamie is, on the other end of the line.

“Jamie,” and it’s a statement. He knows without a doubt that this is Jamie, _his_ Jamie. Now he just needs to figure out how to get to him. “Babe, I’m trapped. You gotta—”

“Just tell me where you are, this thing is dying. I’ll come for you, I fucking promise,” Tyler hears him nearly growl into the receiver. If the situation weren’t so dire, he’d be experiencing some pretty interesting feelings at hearing Jamie’s voice get all growly like that. For now, he can’t think about anything but the fact that Jamie is coming. He’s imagined it time and time again, but this time it actually feels real. He can’t be sure though, since he’s had such vivid dreams about Jamie rescuing him since this whole thing started, hell, even since becoming trapped in this car. He doesn’t want to get his hopes up only to be disappointed again.

Nonetheless, he needs to do everything he can to keep his scent unappealing, at least until he’s somewhere safe. The mere idea that Jamie is coming for him has him feeling warm and happy, even through the worry and terror that he experiences regularly. Right now, he’s got at least ten disgusting rotted corpses banging on the windows of the car, climbing onto the hood. The smears of the thick black blood that they leave in the wake of their flailing limbs makes Tyler sick. He’d never believed any of this was possible, but now he’s living it, and he’s the most delicious snack out there. 

He can’t think that he’d imagined hearing Jamie’s voice, because if it hadn’t been real, Tyler is likely to die in here. It will either be due to starvation, or because he gets too desperate and tries to escape. In a wide open area, he could probably take ten zombies. They’re slow moving, moreso with the colder weather that hit Dallas recently, and Tyler is still athletic despite the muscle depletion he’s experienced because of lack of training and malnutrition. Being surrounded like this, he doesn’t have a chance. Even if he somehow manages to clear a path, the others will be quick to ambush him, and he’s never seen anyone survive a bite or a scratch from one of these things. 

He thinks that he’s explained his location to Jamie as accurately as possible, and now all he can do is wait. Wait for Jamie, wait to see if any of this was real, just wait. It’s not as easy as it sounds, especially not with literal monsters banging on the glass windows, not when he can hear their uncanny moans being torn out of their throats. It’s especially difficult because he doesn’t know if Jamie is actually coming. All he can do is wait now, wait and hope that his conversation with Jamie hadn’t been something that his mind came up with as some way to self soothe. 

He tries to ignore the monsters outside, but it’s hard to do when those things are pounding on the windows, it’s hard to do when they’re pressing their disgusting faces against the glass, smearing their thick black blood across the surface and leaving thin slices of skin in their wake. He doesn’t look at their faces, can’t stand to see the way their eyes have clouded over, or the way their jaws snap at the air, just hoping for something to consume. 

He slouches down in the backseat, tries to ignore the unnatural moans carrying through the tempered barrier. He doesn’t want to think about what will happen if he stays trapped in here. He doesn’t have food, or water, or most importantly, any suppressants left, and he can already feel the dehydration making his limbs ache. He’s been due for a heat for a few days now, and thankfully it hasn’t hit yet, but it’s only a matter of time. He doesn’t want to think about what will happen if he inevitably goes into heat stuck inside this deathtrap of a tin can. He’s already seen what happens when an omega goes into heat around these things. It’s not something that he wants for himself. 

Tyler is snapped out of his daze by the sound of something heavy hitting the front window. His eyes snap up to see what’s happening out there. He doesn’t think they can break through the glass, but he doesn’t actually know. If one of them managed to crack the windshield, his lifeline has been dramatically shortened. 

That’s not what’s happening though, not at all. 

He hears the sound of screeching tires, and it makes the monsters clawing at the windows actually pause. There’s a brief silence where he thinks he hears his own heart pounding, a steady _thump thump thump_ that proves to him that he’s still alive, and that this isn’t just some sort of terrifying nightmare, but then the entire car lurches sideways. 

He has to cling to the centre console to stay upright and try to breathe through the fear that this might be it. He might never see Jamie again, and he’s going to die here, trapped in this cop car and never get to know what it’s like to be bonded, what it’s like to wake up next to his alpha, his _Jamie_ every morning and ride to the rink together. The first report of the weird sickness that causes people to die and walk again dashed most of his hopes, but he’d always thought he would see Jamie again before it all ended, that maybe they would go out together. 

He’s preparing himself to be ripped apart, his skin and muscles flayed from the sharp, demanding teeth of the monsters when he hears a guttural roar. It’s almost more animal than human and it makes the hair on the back of Tyler’s neck stand on end. The weirdest part is that it sounds kind of familiar. He peers through the blood smeared window just in time to see one of the creatures go flying, landing several feet away from the car. It’s the one that had been thrown on the dash — or maybe hit by a truck — just a few seconds ago. Another one lets out a moan than ends in a disgusting sort of gurgle as something pierces it’s throat.

It becomes very clear from what Tyler can see from his window that he hadn’t imagined talking to Jamie at all, because there he is, in full gear, literally throwing zombies off of the car in an effort to get to him. Tyler can only sit and watch in abject horror as Jamie, his _alpha_, abandons the stick he’d been using to target the brain stem, and starts ripping limbs off the monsters closest to the car. He’s not even going for the killing blow right away, just tearing these monsters apart because they’d merely threatened Tyler’s safety. He can tell without even looking at him that Jamie has sunk deeply into his alpha instincts, and that he won’t come out of it until his omega is safe. Tyler isn’t Jamie’s omega, but he’s the closest thing to it.

They haven’t bonded. It had taken Tyler over a year before he’d even agreed to let Jamie court him. He’d been unsure of his place on the Stars when he’d first arrived, but Jamie had been steadfast in his intentions. After a year, Tyler had agreed to courtship, and soon after, so sharing heats and ruts together. This was supposed to be their year. They were going to bond and play hockey together, and just live the rest of their lives with each other. Tyler was looking forward to it, it was something that he _wanted_. Jamie was it for him, there would never be anyone else. Stars management had even gotten an Omega Specialist to come and help them adjust to the bond and use it to the team’s advantage. 

None of that will happen now, not if Jamie keeps putting himself in danger out there, not if Jamie gets himself killed while trying to get to Tyler. Now is the time for him to act. Jamie is enough of a distraction for all of the dead surrounding them, so Tyler thinks that maybe he can get out of the car now. Just as he’s about to open the driver side door, Jamie throws one of the monsters against the metal with a sickening _crunch_, effectively crushing the reinforced metal. Tyler jiggles the handle, tries to force the door open but it won’t budge. Whatever Jamie had done has damaged it enough that it won’t open, and Tyler is trapped in a completely different way. 

“Fuck,” he whispers, still concerned about the noise despite the frenzied alpha tearing bodies apart and growling just outside of the car. He kicks the metal once, for good measure, and then needs to figure out how to get Jamie’s attention. On the other side of the car, there are still too many zombies for Tyler to get out, and he’s pretty sure that if he tries to slide to the back, it will take too long and Jamie will get himself bitten. He’s already stinking the place up with his alpha rage, and Tyler needed to get them out of here like, twenty minutes ago. 

He does the only thing that he can and bangs on the window to try and get Jamie’s attention, and it works. Alphas in a rage are drawn to their omegas, and Jamie’s head snaps up as soon as Tyler starts making noise. It’s eerie how similar his reaction is to the zombies’, but Tyler can’t think about that. They need to find somewhere safe. 

He jiggles the handle now that he has Jamie’s attention, trying to convey that the door won’t open. He’s not sure what he’s expecting, but it’s not for Jamie to grip the door and rip it off of its hinges, muscles bulging from the demand on them, and then _roar_. He’s not expecting Jamie to immediately use the sharpened car door to decapitate three of the undead on the other side of the car by throwing it at them, splattering their blood and rotted tissue all over the hood. He’s not expecting the deep throated battle cry, louder than the roar that just escaped Jamie’s mouth, but that’s the thing that gets Tyler back in action.

“Jamie, babe,” he whispers. “Come on, where’s your truck? We have to go,” he says gently. He meets Jamie’s wild eyes and slowly reaches out to touch his shoulder. Jamie is breathing heavily, mouth wide open to take in more air. His eyes are sharp, the pupils shrunken down to pinpricks. All Tyler wants to do it turn over and submit to him, but he can’t. Naturally, both of their biologies want it, he can tell, but he knows that they need to get out of here first. 

They don’t have much time, but if he rushes this, he might be dealing with an enraged alpha for much longer than necessary. “I’m safe, you got me, but we need to leave.” He runs his fingers over Jamie’s hand, up his arm a little, and then he lets himself lean in to take in Jamie’s essence. He can smell the sharp rage, the thick and putrid worry, and the steadfast determination, but it’s slowly ceding into something sweeter. Tyler knows he’s won when he pulls away and Jamie’s eyes are blazing a little less intensely.

They barely have enough time to start running before the rest of the monsters from the other side of the cop car are on them. Jamie’s eyes go dark once again, and he drops into a fighting stance, shoving Tyler behind him. Tyler has a baseball bat, one of the only weapons he’s come across so far, so he presses it into Jamie’s hands, hoping that he’ll use a weapon instead of his hands, and pulls out the hunting knife he’d lifted from some luggage on his way out of the airport. He watches in awe as Jamie brings his strong arms back and then bashes one of the zombie’s heads in, watches as the skull cracks and as the soupy, dark, bloody liquid seeps out from where its brain is supposed to be, leaving long tendrils of a rancid blend of brains and blood down over the rest of its skull. The body crumples to the ground as soon as Jamie releases it, and he’s quickly moving on to the next one. Tyler doesn’t even get the chance to use his knife, because Jamie moves so quickly that the remainder of those that were trapping Tyler have been destroyed before he can even get it out of its sheath.

“This way,” Jamie growls. It’s the only thing that he’s said to Tyler so far, aside from the conversation over the radio, which Tyler had thought he imagined. Jamie’s hand fits around his bicep and he’s guided through the bodies at their feet toward Jamie’s truck. It’s still the same one that he’d had since Tyler arrived in Texas, and seeing something so familiar makes his chest ache. He lets Jamie manhandle him into the cab and then watches intently as Jamie circles the vehicle, intending to warn him if they get some surprise visitors. 

Once they’re inside and the doors are locked, Tyler slides over and can’t stop himself from touching Jamie. It’s been three months since all of this happened, three months of him thinking that Jamie could be dead. He has to run his fingers over his cheeks, slide them up to take off his helmet. He knows that it’s dangerous, but he needs to take this time to touch and feel Jamie, just to prove that he’s really there. He ignores all of the blood, and the bits of flesh. They can find a lake or something and clean off later. Right now, he just—

Jamie has enough presence of mind to reach for some makeup wipes in the back, presses them into Tyler’s hands and waits as Tyler carefully cleans the thick fluid from his lips and cheeks. Thankfully, his big idiot alpha is wearing a helmet with a visor for once in his damn life, so he hadn’t gotten anything in his eyes. Once Jamie’s face has been cleaned off, Tyler gives his own a quick wipe, just in case, and then he has to drag Jamie down of a kiss. He can’t help the broken whimper that escapes his throat, can’t help the way he presses himself against Jamie’s solid presence as he lets himself just let go for a moment. 

They have to pull away too quickly because they really do have to go, but Jamie presses his face into Tyler’s neck and takes a deep, calming breath, before Tyler watches him take his place at the wheel. “We’ve been staying in the practice facility,” he says as he starts the truck up.

“We?” Tyler asks. He doesn’t want to hope, but he knows that some of the other guys had come early for training camp. He’d been coming early himself, but with the intention of meeting with a bond specialist to discuss a bond timeline for he and Jamie. It was supposed to be an exciting time for them, since they were basically planning to get married, but then the world had been overtaken by this disease, and everything had changed. 

“Some of the guys, Rads, Klinger, Bish, Miro, Spezz and Dobby, and some others,” Jamie responds simply. He’s still not quite vocal yet, Tyler can tell. Instead of pressing him further, he reaches over to lay his hand over Jamie’s thigh, ignoring the gore and grime, just so that he can have a connection to him. He lets himself drift, lets himself finally relax a little, now that he’s safe with his alpha.

Jamie still smells the exact same as he had before all of this, like warm salt water and deep forests with just an edge of ice and metal. He smells warm, smells like home, and all Tyler wants is to bury himself in that and forget everything that he’s gone through since landing at DFW. He can feel himself start to shake at the memories, so he forces himself to block them out, block out everyone he’s met and lost already. He needs to focus on Jamie, because Jamie is _here_ and being together is something that Tyler didn’t expect to ever have again. He takes a deep breath, lets Jamie’s scent wash over him, and presses himself back against the soft seats. If this were any other type of circumstance, Tyler would probably be drifting off to sleep right now. 

“Do you still want to bond?” Tyler blurts out after a long moment. 

“_Yes_,” Jamie growls. “You’re _mine_. I _looked_ for you,” he insists. 

“Good,” Tyler replies. “I don’t know if I’m allowed to want anything anymore, but I want that.” 

They’re silent again now that they’ve established that, and it’s not long before they’re pulling up to the practice facility. Jamie has to get out, has to move some debris that hides the underground entrance from outsiders, and won’t let Tyler help. Tyler just has to watch him, tucked up safe inside the cab of the truck. 

Soon they’re pulling in, Jamie is parking the truck, and coming around to help Tyler out. He feels Jamie’s hands on his hips, feels his face in the crook of his neck again, and then feels soft lips against his skin. “Ty,” he breathes. “I can’t—”

Tyler gets his own arms around Jamie and pulls him in tightly. He doesn’t know how long they stand there like that, but he does know that they both need it. They need to just hold each other and feel the physical proof that they’re together once again. Eventually, they have to part, and Tyler misses Jamie’s strong body against his right away. 

“The guys are gonna lose their minds, seeing you,” Jamie tells him, seemingly having recovered from his rage. “It’s fucking unreal, you being here.” 

“Yeah,” Tyler agrees. He still can’t even believe it. He follows Jamie to another door, this one heavily protected, and listens as Jamie makes a series of intricate knock and scratch combinations. It’s like a secret handshake; Tyler likes it. 

“Who is it?” comes another very familiar voice. 

“It’s Benny. I didn’t get any supplies, but I’m not empty handed, so open the fuck up.” 

“Hold your damn horses,” Jordie replies, but Tyler can hear him working the door open. “What did you bring— holy shit!” he exclaims when he comes into Tyler’s view. “Holy jesus fucking christ in hell! Seggy!”

Then Tyler is wrapped up in another pair of strong alpha arms, feels Jordie squeeze him tightly before letting him go again. “I’m alive,” he tells him.

“Sure as hell you are! The guys are gonna lose their minds, get the fuck in here.” He moves aside to admit them, and Tyler follows Jamie inside. It’s the first time he’s felt safe since he’d boarded his plane in Toronto, and he intends to keep that feeling for as long as possible.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No warnings here! Just some sweet fluffiness because they deserve it!

Jamie is nervous the entire way back to the practice facility. He knows that they’re as safe as they possibly can be, sitting snug inside the truck with a steel barrier between them and the monsters, but the idea of Tyler and Tyler’s scent being exposed like this makes him nervous. He’s never even heard of another omega surviving out there, so he has no idea how Tyler had managed it. The only omega that they have at the facility is Dr. Madhuri Sharma, the omega specialist that had been hired to help he and Tyler come up with a bonding timeline before the start of the season. Mads hasn’t left the practice facility since the news hit though, and they have her hidden away in the middle of where the rink used to be, as far from every entrance as possible.

They can’t afford to gamble with her safety, since she’s the only doctor here with them and they might need her help with bigger things than some stitches or an assessment on a muscle tear in the future, It doesn’t matter that her scent’s been dulled because she and her wife Sylvie have just had a baby, they need to make sure that they keep protecting her. 

Mads is the least of his worries right now, however, since he has a very real, very unbonded omega sitting in his truck next to him as they drive home. Because Tyler is still unbonded, his scent is still projecting itself, leaving a trail of pheromones wherever he goes. His biology is trying to attract a mate, and in doing so, projecting his location to every zombie within smelling distance. 

Jamie needs to get him home.

Every mile between him and the cop car he rescued Tyler from is a relief, but still, they can’t arrive back at the training facility soon enough. Once there, Jamie pulls into the underground parking area and stops the truck. He feels safe for the first time since he’d first gotten Tyler into the vehicle, and he hopes that he keeps feeling that way, at least for a couple hours. 

Once he taps and scratches the secret code, the door swings open to reveal his brother, looking confused. “I didn’t get any supplies, but I’m not empty handed,” Jamie assures him before stepping aside to reveal Tyler. 

He watches as Jordie’s jaw drops, then as he immediately pulls Tyler in for one of his trademarked bear hugs. He watches as Tyler melts into him, taking comfort in another friendly face. Jamie knows that he shouldn’t be surprised by how happy Jordie is to see Tyler, since it’s been pretty well known for a while that the intention is to make Tyler part of the family. He knows that he shouldn’t be annoyed either, but Tyler is _his_ and he wants to take him somewhere, hide him away until he’s had enough time to convince himself that his omega is real, that he’s not going to wake up and realise that this is only a dream.

Thankfully, Jamie is able to control his urges, and not act like an overbearing alpha. Instead of dragging Tyler away, he links their pinkies together and leans against the wall in the entrance of the building as they tell him about their afternoon. 

“How did you find each other?” Jordie asks, eyes wide with disbelief as he continues to stare at Tyler. “Like, fuck Ty, Jamie went and looked for you. He drove around that airport for weeks after all this shit went down. He just-- he wouldn’t give up, because he fucking knew you’d come.” 

Tyler’s eyes flick over to him quickly, a wordless question in them, to which Jamie nods. His eyes widen a fraction, but then he turns back to Jordie like Jamie hadn’t just admitted to desperately seeking him out even when they thought the planes had been grounded, and that no more would be coming in. “Okay, Jordie, get this,” Tyler says before explaining the whole situation with the walkie-talkie and the cop car. “And it was so hot! Jamie was just like, fucking, ripping them apart to get to me. Never was so sure in my life that I wanted to bond to him.”

“That’s too much information but… jesus, it’s like he knew, without you two even bonding…” 

Jamie just shrugs and squeezes Tyler’s hand gently. He’s counting down the seconds until he can get Tyler alone, just waiting until they can excuse themselves to the showers, and then to what will become their bed. Jordie seems to catch on, because he gives Jamie a look, then nods before saying, “well, you’re both disgusting, so I’ll let you hit the showers and we can talk more later. Check for bites though,” he adds as a warning to Jamie. 

He doesn’t think that Tyler has been bitten, but they can’t run that risk. They’ve made that mistake before.

“No bites,” Tyler assures them. “They didn’t get close enough once Jamie showed up, and before that, I was trapped in a car for at least a fucking day.” Jamie watches as Tyler turns toward him, takes in the smirk on his face when he says, “but you can check wherever you want, I don’t mind.” 

“Alright, that’s my cue to leave,” Jordie tells them. “Leave your gear in here, you know the drill.” 

Jamie nods at him as he makes his way out of their little entrance room, Tyler trailing behind him. They’ve changed things around a bit, boarded up the majority of the entrances and windows, and made the others look like they aren’t in use. They stay deep enough in the building to ensure that the zombies can’t see any light or movement, and so that it’s less likely that they smell them. They’ve closed up a bunch of hallways too, so it’s not a surprise that Tyler needs to rely on Jamie to find his way around. A lot has changed in the last three months or so. 

He turns to face Tyler fully because he needs to make sure for himself. “No bites,” he confirms. He doesn’t think he could handle losing Tyler after just having found him again. 

“Not a one,” Tyler promises as he squeezes Jamie’s wrist. Jamie feels his hand cupping his cheek, so he leans into it, more than willing to be close like this now that they’re safe. He feels Tyler move in a little closer, hears him take a deep breath and moves his hands up to Tyler’s hips and squeezes. He needs this, needs to touch and feel and taste, so that he can prove to himself that this really is happening.

They stay like that for a moment, just until they both get their fill of each other’s scents, and then break apart. Now that they’ve had enough time together, Jamie can recognize that it’s been a long time since Tyler had last showered, and that he himself is covered in blood and bits of the body parts from the undead that he’d killed earlier. They both need to get clean, and any type of reunion can wait until they’ve done that and gotten a nap in. 

Thankfully, the practice facility had switched over primarily to solar power a bit over a year ago, so they’re still able to have hot showers and use the lights and heat sparingly. It’s not perfect, and the power has gone out a few times, but they’ve always managed to get it going again. Jamie is not looking forward to when the panels inevitably break down in a way that they aren’t able to fix, and they’ll have to go without. They rely on having power too much and losing it will make living in this horror even worse. 

He’s not going to think about that now, not going to pay attention to all the things that could go wrong when he’s got something that’s gone so right here in front of him. For now, he strips off his gear, along with most of his clothes, and does the same to Tyler. Someone will be by to clean it up and salvage what they can from it, since there are plenty of people here that are willing to do almost anything so long as they don’t have to leave the building. Jamie can’t say he blames them, might be less willing to leave himself now that he’s got Tyler here. 

“We’ve got showers,” Jamie tells him. “We’ll go get clean, and then we can just--”

“Be together? I don’t need much right now, babe, just like, wanna hold you,” Tyler says, and it’s exactly what Jamie had been thinking. They just need a bit of time to cuddle up together and breathe each other in. 

He nods at Tyler, takes his hand and leads him through their fortified door, deeper into the arena. They’re both quiet as they walk through the empty halls, Jamie because he’s still recovering from the rage that had overtaken him when he’d seen Tyler was in trouble, and Tyler presumably because it’s hitting him now that everything is different. It had been difficult for Jamie when they’d first decided to set up shop in the arena, because he’d known that it would never be used for its intended purpose again. 

Once in the showers, they both strip off the remainder of their clothing, tossing the ruined rags aside and stepping toward the nozzles. Without any discussion, they take the same stall; Jamie doesn’t want to be any further away from Tyler than he needs to be and Tyler seems to be having similar feelings, judging by the way he keeps touching Jamie, like if he doesn’t, Jamie will disappear. 

He makes sure to take care of Tyler first, pours a generous amount of shampoo into his own hands and works it through Tyler’s hair. It’s longer than it was the last time Tyler had sent him a snap, and dirtier than Tyler would have ever let it get before. 

Jamie works his fingers through the strands thoroughly, watches as the dirt and grime rinses out of the strands and curls down the drain. He tries not to get distracted by the way Tyler’s eyes flutter closed, or by the way he leans against Jamie as his hair gets washed. Jamie takes care to wash the rest of his body too, checking for bites as he does so. It’s not that he doesn’t trust Tyler when he says that he doesn’t have any, he just needs to see for himself. He can’t lose Tyler again, not when he’s just found him.

“No bites,” Tyler murmurs when Jamie finishes checking him over. “Told you.” 

“I know, I just--” 

“Yeah,” Tyler agrees, eyes shining with affection and appreciation. “I know. My turn?” 

It surprises Jamie for a moment, even though it shouldn’t. He had been the one that was more likely to get hurt out there, especially with the rage state he’s been in. Tyler is only doing exactly what Jamie had just done, and he has more reason to do so. Jamie knows he doesn’t have any bites, but he’s going to let Tyler do this anyway. He nods, steps back, and lets Tyler look his fill. He shivers as Tyler’s fingers brush over some old bruises, bites his lip when he presses gently against a particularly sore one. “No worse than hockey,” Jamie says. 

“Fuck, I miss hockey,” Tyler adds as he stands back up. He leans against the wall of their stall, clearly exhausted, and hides a yawn behind his hand. “You’re clear. And clean. Where can we find a bed?” 

Now that Jamie really has the chance to look, he notices that Tyler appears much worse thant he’d originally thought. He’s skinnier than he is even at the end of the season, and he’s lost some muscle mass as well. There are dark circles under his eyes, almost purple in the dim light of the changeroom. His lips are chapped, and his skin looks dry too, like maybe he;s dehydrated. He makes a mental note to make sure he gets a good meal when they wake up, and that they have plenty of water in their room. When they’s first decided to set up here, the place had been stocked, getting ready for the season, but now they’re really running low on supplies.

Tyler’s condition makes sense, since he’s the one that’s been out there this whole time, exposed to danger every second of the day. This is probably the first time he’s felt safe enough for a proper rest, the first time he’s felt comfortable enough to let his guard down. Jamie reaches forward to turn off the warm water and brushes Tyler’s hair out of his face gently. Tyler’s tilting his head up toward Jamie and Jamie can’t help but press a soft, brief kiss against his lips. 

“Dry off first, or Jordie will kill us,” Jamie tells him as he wraps him up in one of the towels left over from when the facility was still in use. He uses another one to drape over Tyler’s shoulders and then tilts his head back up so that he can kiss him again. 

Now that he’s clean, void of any lingering stench of dirt and grime, Jamie finds himself basking in that old familiar scent. He lets the aroma of fresh water, cold steel, and rich spice wash over him as he claims Tyler’s mouth, dips down over and over again to sample him as he cradles his neck for more access. It’s their first real chance to get better acquainted with each other, and Jamie knows that as soon as they get into the bedroom, they’re going to fall asleep. Neither of them has enough energy to do anything more than hold each other right now. 

He hears Tyler whimper against his lips, feels him press his body closer to Jamie’s own. He sneaks his hands down over his hips, then lower to cup Tyler’s ass, buries his face in his neck, where his claiming bite will be soon. He nips at it, makes sure that Tyler knows it’s a promise, and then pulls away. 

“No,” Tyler whines, “come back, babe.”

Jamie presses one last soft kiss to his temple and squeezes his shoulders. “After, yeah? You’re exhausted and starving; I don’t want you falling asleep on me. We’ve got more important shit to deal with right now, but after,” he murmurs. 

“Later though, promise?” Tyler insists. “It’s been so fucking long Jamie, like, since that last heat we shared before I went back to Toronto. I fucking _need_ it.”

Jamie has to kiss him again, but this time he keeps it sweet. “I promise.” 

He dries Tyler off, indulging in his own urge to take care of his omega, then finds them some clothes. Someone, probably Jordie, has left some stuff in their approximate sizes outside of the shower, so Jamie passes a pair of trackies into Tyler’s waiting hands. He tugs on his own set, then links their fingers together once more. He’s not about to let go of Tyler if he can help it at all. 

“I share with Jordie right now,” he says, “but we’re gonna have to move deeper into the facility after we sleep. Until we bond, your scent is gonna be a fucking beacon for those things.”

“Oh, uh, bonding might not take as long as you think it will,” Tyler replies, biting his lip.

“What do you mean?” Jamie asks him. Usually, they’d have to wait for a heat to complete a bond, and Tyler is always suppressed through the season. Jamie had expected to schedule a heat over bye week and get it done then, but spend some time establishing a routine with their relationship before then. Bonding is basically like getting married, and both he and Tyler had wanted to prepare for it before jumping in. That’s why they’d needed Mads. She was going to work with them on a schedule, figure out how to wean Tyler off the suppressants and ensure a strong bond. 

“I mean that I was supposed to get my next suppressant shot from Dr. Sharma when I got back here, and since there are literal fucking dead bodies walking around, I missed it. I’m probably gonna go in heat in the next week or so,” Tyler clarifies. “It lines up with when my last shot will wear off.” 

Jamie just looks at Tyler for a moment, blinks once or twice and tries to think of a response. This is great news, and not just because it’s exactly what Jamie wants, but also because once an omega is bonded, their scent becomes much more muted. Once they bond, Tyler’s scent will be detectable mostly only to Jamie and people who are extremely scent sensitive. Unfortunately, the zombies seem to be more sensitive than a regular person could be, but that doesn’t change the fact that this is a good thing. If they bond, Tyler will be much more safe, which will make the rest of them safer as well. 

On the other hand, Tyler’s been going through suppressant withdrawal for the past three months, and he’s still managed to survive. Suppressants can be very strong, and Tyler had been on a heavy dose because they hadn’t wanted to accidentally bond because they’re so compatible, which is something that’s been known to happen. Jamie’s never gone through suppressant withdrawal himself, but he’s heard that going through it is a certain type of hell that he’s glad he’ll never have to deal with. 

“Are you okay?” he settles with, “I mean, fuck Ty. How did you…?” 

“Yeah, it’s-- we can talk later, but like, I made it fine. There’s just like, a lot to talk about, but I really just wanna…”

“Bed,” Jamie finishes, nodding. “Yeah, come on.” He leads Tyler through the winding hallways to the equipment room he shares with Jordie. There are some offices still empty upstairs, but he and Jordie had wanted to be close to the doors, just in case something got through. Someone- Jamie’s pretty sure it was Rig- had gone out and gotten as many mattresses as possible a few months back, so everyone staying here has a bed to sleep on. He motions to the one that belongs to him, and lets Tyler gets himself settled into it first. 

Once he’s settled, Jamie strips off his shirt and slides underneath the blankets as well. Tyler curls right up next to him immediately, and Jamie feels him drape an arm over his waist and settle his head on his chest. He feels Tyler shiver a little, then feels him start to shake. Jamie brings his own hands up to draw them over Tyler’s back, to card his fingers through Tyler’s too-long hair. He does anything he can think of to comfort his omega and keeps doing it until he can feel Tyler start to relax a little bit. 

“Missed you,” Tyler murmurs against Jamie’s shoulder. 

“Fuck, I missed you so much,” Jamie agrees. “So glad I found you though. So fucking glad you’re safe.” 

“My hero,” Tyler says through a yawn. “Love you,” he adds. 

Jamie squeezes him gently at that, responds, “me too,” but he’s pretty sure that Tyler is already asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for everyone who was waiting! This chapter gave me a lot of trouble, and then turned out completely differently than I had planned. Here it is nonetheless, hope you enjoy!

When Tyler wakes up, it feels like both forever and no time at all has passed. He doesn’t know how long he’s slept for, only that he feels well rested for the first time in months. He also feels like he could sleep for another year or so, but he doesn’t think that’s an option. There’s a warm body beside him, and it takes him a moment or two to recognize it as _Jamie_ and not the other omega, Opal, that he’s been travelling with until-- it’s better for him not to think about that for now. Instead, he’s going to focus on being safe, and warm, and _loved_.

“Ty? You awake?” he hears Jamie ask him. He still can’t believe it, that he’s here with Jamie, and not out there anymore. He can’t believe that Jamie is alive, either. He’d known deep down that Jamie would be one of the ones that made it, somehow known that Jamie’s physical abilities and analytic mind would be an asset to him out there, just like on the ice, but actually seeing him here, cuddled up in a bed that will be theirs, is hard for Tyler to grasp. He reaches down to squeeze Jamie’s hip and nods against his chest. “Hungry?” 

As Jamie asks, Tyler’s stomach rumbles, which makes him giggle a little. “Uh, yes. Very yes,” he replies. He shifts over so that he can actually look at Jamie, so he can take in his handsome face, lined now with more wrinkles, dotted with more scars. He reaches up, slowly, because he needs to feel Jamie’s face underneath his fingers, which he draws over Jamie’s cheekbones, over his forehead, down his nose and across his lips. Jamie puckers a kiss against Tyler’s fingertips, and Tyler nearly melts into the blankets right there. He’d never forget how sweet Jamie is with him, but this is certainly a nice reminder. Tyler’s gaze goes from Jamie’s lips back up to meet his eyes and his hands rest gently on Jamie’s cheeks. “Jamie,” he breathes. “It’s you. I can’t believe it.” 

“Believe it. We’ve both made it, so far.” Tyler feels Jamie’s breath on his lips before Jamie leans in to kiss him, which Tyler returns without hesitation. He’s spent the past three months not knowing if Jamie is alive, dead, or shambling around outside with the rest of the zombies and he needs to have tangible evidence that Jamie is, indeed, alive. 

He ignores his hunger in favour of pulling Jamie on top of himself and just letting himself feel all of his weight, holding Tyler down so that he’s tethered here. He could think of worse ways to spend his time, and he tangles their legs together to make sure that Jamie isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. If he had the choice, he’d probably stay like this all day, feeling the realness of Jamie over him and forgetting everything that he’s been through. He doesn’t want to think about what’s going on out there, and being in an arena is a comfort that he didn’t think he would have again. 

Jamie lets him hold onto him for a bit, but then starts to wriggle a little. “You gotta eat, babe,” Tyler hears him say. “Don’t want you wasting away now that I found you.”

“Fine,” Tyler complains, “but after, I wanna lie here like this with you until I convince myself that this is all real.” 

“Deal,” Jamie replies. Tyler watches as he reaches for his shirt and tugs it over his broad shoulders. Jamie’s body has changed in the last three months but somehow, his muscles are more defined now than they had been when he’d worked out regularly and been eating properly. It must be because Jamie is one of the guys that goes out into that mess to bring things back, to make sure that everyone here can survive too. Tyler knows the likelihood of that, since it had been Jamie that found him. That doesn’t mean he likes the idea, though, he’s more than willing to never go outside of the arena doors again. He’s not about to let Jamie go out by himself; if Jamie is out there fighting, Tyler doesn’t want him doing it without someone out there to watch his back. 

The arena itself is bustling when they finally emerge from the room together, shattering the spell that made it seem like he and Jamie were the last two people on earth. It seems as though Jamie and the guys had amassed quite the community during the last three months, which means that maybe this place really is safe. Tyler finds himself waving along with Jamie to everyone that they pass, even though he doesn’t know any of them.

Once they get into the kitchen area, Tyler finally spots some people that he does know. Jordie is sitting on a stool with Bish across from him, and Spezz seems to be cooking… something for his girls. Tyler is so glad to see them there, so glad that these people have made it. He doesn’t want to think about the ones that aren’t here, because there’s no way to know what might have happened to them, so he just lets himself be thankful that some of the guys made it. He gives each of them a full body hug, lets Spezz chirp him about being skinny, but he doesn’t have the energy to keep up with the small talk. The guys seem to understand, and Bish pats him on the back, saying “talk later?” and all Tyler can do is nod.

Jamie slides onto a stool across from Jordie, and Tyler gets on the one right next to him. He reaches over and puts a hand on Jamie’s thigh, just because he needs to be able to touch him. 

“How are ya feeling?” Jordie asks, now that the pleasantries with the other guys are done. 

“Better,” Tyler admits, shrugging. “Slept pretty good.” The words come slowly after not using them for so long, after losing Opal. Tyler leans his head against Jamie’s shoulder, still exhausted from three months on the run.

“He’s hungry,” Jamie supplies, since Tyler is still having trouble making words happen. “Do we have anything easy?” 

As it turns out, there’s a whole pot of rice with beans and salsa on the stove. Tyler knows that he’s been a bit of a picky eater in the past, but right now he thinks he’d eat just about anything. Jamie leaves him sitting with Jordie while he goes to get them each a bowl.

“Shit Ty, can’t believe you’re here,” Jordie says. “Seriously man, I never thought I’d see that ugly mug of yours again, but here you are.”

“Yeah, I wasn’t always sure that I was gonna make it either,” Tyler admits. “It got pretty fucking dicey out there, at times.” He shivers a little, thinking about some of the things he’d gone through, and some of the things that he had to do to survive. He knows that everyone has their own trauma now that the world has imploded in on itself, but that doesn’t stop his own from being real and valid. 

He feels a gentle hand on his shoulder, warm and solid, and looks up to see Jamie wearing his concerned face. “You okay?” he asks. 

“Yeah babe,” Tyler replies. “I am now.” Honestly, he’s been feeling warm since he’d woken up from their nap, too hot, a little clammy. He’s not sure what it means, because he knows that he hasn’t been bitten, but he’s still feeling pretty off. Even though he’s hungrier than he can ever remember being, looking at the rice in front of him is making him queasy. 

“You sure?” Jordie persists, “you smell…”

“Oh fuck,” Tyler replies, realising what’s happening all at once. “Heat,” he says. “I’m going into preheat. Suppressants wore off, and I’m gonna go into heat.” He knows how dangerous that is for everyone here, knows how the zombies react to the scent of an omega in heat. He doesn’t want to put anyone in danger, but he doesn’t know what else to do. Once he and Jamie bond, it will be fine, but until then, Tyler will be attracting all the monsters near enough to smell him. “Jamie, we-”

“Eat,” Jamie tells him, a hint of edge to his voice. “You’re gonna need it. We can figure this shit out, okay?” 

Tyler doesn’t think that they can though, because he’s seen what happens to omegas who go into heat out there. He’s seen it, and it’s not something that he wants to happen to him or anyone that he cares about. He reaches for his spoon only because he doesn’t want Jamie worrying about him more than he already is, and lifts it to his mouth with a shaking hand. His ears are ringing so loud that he can’t see what Jamie and Jordie are saying, can only see their lips moving as they discuss a plan. He’s not there yet, not in heat, but it’s a matter of hours at this point, and Tyler doesn’t think that’s enough time to prepare.

He feels Jamie’s hand on his shoulder again, and pauses eating to look at him. He still can’t hear him, too focused on the danger that he’s putting them all in just for being here. Finally, he snaps back, but only after he’s sure Jamie had said his name at least four times. “Tyler,” he says, “it’s gonna be okay. We have a plan.” 

“Yeah, I gotta get out of here,” Tyler replies, “find somewhere to hole up until it’s over.” 

“What? No.” 

“Are you fucking kidding?” Jordie adds, “it’s not safe out there for an omega in heat.”

“It’s not safe for you to be in here if I am,” Tyler responds immediately. “You don’t know what happens to those fucking things when they scent an omega in heat, they go into a fucking frenzy. I’ve seen it, and I don’t want to put any of you in danger because of me.”

“We have a plan,” Jordie repeats. “We have other omegas here, and Mads hasn’t gone into heat because she just had a baby, but we have plans.” 

“I don’t know what your plan is, but it’s not going to work. It’s just… It fucking won’t work. I need to leave.” 

“Tyler, just fucking listen to us,” Jamie growls, spinning Tyler so that all he can see is Jamie’s face. It’s such a nice face too, even though Jamie is frowning at him and trying to make him listen . “Listen to me.” 

“Your face is so nice, babe,” Tyler tells him. “Our babies would be so pretty. I want that, I want pretty little baby Tylers and Jamies, running around. Will you give that to me?” Jamie’s scent is already seeping in and settling in Tyler’s bones. All he wants is to get this heat started, and to get Jamie’s knot exactly where he wants it. 

Jordie takes over then, because Jamie is too much of a distraction. Tyler isn’t quite in heat yet, so once he stops looking at Jamie, he’s able to focus a bit better. “There’s a few storage rooms deep in the facility that should be safe for you to pass your heat in,” Jorde explains, “that way, your scent won’t escape and attract them. And once you and Jamie bond, which I’m assuming will be now, you won’t have to worry about it again.” 

Tyler shrugs Jamie’s hand off his shoulder, because Jamie smells too good for him to concentrate on anything right now, as he has already proven. His heat is coming on fast, and he needs to make sure that the rest of the community here at the practice arena stays safe. “Show me,” he demands. “I need to see that no one else will be put in danger because of me.” He turns to Jamie and says, “you stay here. I can’t fucking think with you around right now.” 

He doesn’t mean for it to sound so cutting, but judging by the look on Jamie’s face, Jamie’s taking his reaction a bit personally. “Babe, no, not like that,” Tyler assures him. “I just. I need to see for myself, okay? I can’t do that with your scent making me wanna roll over and present, making me wanna let you fill me with babies.” 

“Wow, that’s way too much information for me,” Jordie says, “but I can take you down. Chubbs, why don’t you get some stuff to make it more comfortable, you know, blankets and shit. Meet us down there in fifteen or so, okay? I got your boy, now you go make sure you can take care of him.” 

Tyler watches Jamie nod, and can’t help but reach out to him before he walks away. He pulls Jamie against himself and holds him tightly for a second, lets his scent invade all of his senses for a moment, and lets himself prepare for what’s about to happen. He’d just told Jamie to go, but he doesn’t want him anywhere but here, with him. Tyler pulls him in for a soft kiss, something like a promise, and then forces himself to let go. He turns to Jordie and says, “this better work because I’m fucking burning up.” 

“I promise you,” Jordie replies, “now come on, you’re stinking it up in here, and this area is too close to the door for my comfort.” Tyler agrees, so he follows Jordie even though all he wants to do is to go after Jamie and drag him into the nearest semi-private corner.

Jordie leads him down the winding halls, to areas he hasn’t even been in, even when he and Jamie would sneak off together after practice for a quickie. They’re deep in the recesses of the arena when Jordie stops to open a door. He shows Tyler the lock on the inside, shows him how they’d cleaned it out so that it could be used for heats. There are a few heavy looking pieces of broken furniture, to which Jordie says, “last resort. Put those in front of the door, just in case. Then maybe nothing will be able to get through, if they get in.” 

It’s not at all where Tyler expected to bond with Jamie, nothing like the airy beach side cottage they’d been looking into renting for the bye week, but they don’t have a choice. Tyler’s legs are already feeling weak, and he’s already starting to shake with need. They can’t wait, even if there were suppressants available, they wouldn’t act fast enough to stop this heat. Besides, Tyler can’t see things getting any better than they are right now, and if they wait, they’ll likely have to bond in much worse conditions than this. 

He can’t be upset about this, and he’s trying not to be, but he’d really thought that he and Jamie would have a romantic, clothing optional vacation. He’d thought they’d spend the entire time together without having to worry about anything aside from how much they love each other. There’s so much more on his mind now, so much more to think about, and Tyler doesn’t know what to do with that. At least they’d been planning this, at least he’d known all summer that he and Jamie would finally be together permanently, so they aren’t doing this because they have to. Tyler wants this more than anything in his life, even more than hockey, he just wishes that it wasn’t happening this way. 

It’s selfish, but Tyler has long accepted that part of himself. 

“See,” Jordie says, interrupting his line of thoughts. “You’ll be safe here, and we’ll be safe too. Don’t worry about us, just focus on getting yourself bonded to your fucking soulmate.” 

And that really puts it into perspective right there. Jamie is absolutely the love of his life, and they’re going to bond to each other. It shouldn’t matter where, or under what circumstances, he and Jamie will be tied together permanently from now on and that’s what he can look forward to, what he’s going to choose to look forward to, in any case.

Tyler knows that he must look terrible right now, on the cusp of heat and freaking out about the fact that this isn’t going the way he’d expected it to, but Jordie is calm and level headed enough for the both of them. “Are you going to be okay?” he asks, setting his hands on Tyler’s shoulders. “I know that you two had plans for this, Jamie told me all about them, but things have changed, Seggy. It’s shit, it’s so fucking shit, but you two found each other when you fucking shouldn’t have, and now you’ve got this chance. Just because it’s not happening the way you wanted it to doesn’t mean that it’s not meant to be.”

“Shit, Jordie,” Tyler replies, voice thick with emotion because he’s a little choked up. “That was deep and cute.”

“Nah bro, you’re the only one that’s deep and cute here,” Jordie tells him. Tyler lets him get his arms around his shoulders and tug him in for a bear hug. 

They’re still like that when Jamie comes down, arms laden with blankets and pillows, and a basket of high calorie foods. “Are you making a move on my man?” he teases. 

“Fuck no. I couldn’t handle him,” Jordie replies, shoving Tyler toward Jamie. “It’s enough for him to be my brother in law.”

“I’m right here,” Tyler complains, but he moves to take some of the blankets and pillows from Jamie’s arms. “But Jordie, I think it’s time for you to fuck off.”

“So this is okay?” Jamie asks in that quiet way of his.

“Yeah, I hope so,” Tyler replies. He’s still not positive that he’s not putting everyone in danger, but he doesn’t have a choice anymore. He’s even starting to slick up now, so he needs to get behind that door, with Jamie, and he needs it to happen immediately. 

“Yeah, I’m going,” Jordie replies. “For whatever it counts, I’m really happy for you guys, okay? Like, really fucking happy.” He gives them each a hug, but even something innocent like that coming from someone that isn’t Jamie makes Tyler bristle a little. “Alright, I’m out of here.” 

With that, Tyler lets Jamie lead him into the storage room. They lock the door behind them, push the heaviest thing that they can find in front of it and then set up the most rushed nest they possibly can. They’ve barely covered up some mattress foam with blankets before Tyler’s knees are buckling beneath him and he’s burning up. His heat has hit him, and now he can’t spare any thoughts for anything but bonding to his big, strong alpha.

When they stumble out of the room three days later, starving and messy, Tyler feels Jamie in the back of his head. He shoots a soft look at the alpha beside him, _his_ alpha, and leans in for a soft kiss. "Mine," he says. 

"Yours," Jamie agrees, "now let's go fucking shower."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I struggled with coming up with a new chapter for this, so we decided to finish it here for now. We think that them bonding is a good ending to what was supposed to be a quick one-off Halloween fic. We hope you all enjoyed, and we may write more in this verse, but we are focusing on other things at the moment. 
> 
> <3

**Author's Note:**

> We're also around on [tumblr](https://why-so-drama.tumblr.com/). If you have any questions, comments or asks, hit us up ;)


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